Made in Britain

Engines : K-Series

August 26, 2011 · Keith Adams · 8 Comments
Posted in: Engines, Rover 200/400, Rover 400/45/MG ZS, Rover 75/MG ZT, Rover 800, Rover Metro/100, Rover R30, Rover RDX60

In taking over from the venerable A-series, Rover’s hi-tech new engine had a hard act to follow. However, it went on to earn itself an enviable reputation in both four- and six-cylinder forms.

KEITH ADAMS discusses this controversial engine…

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The light fantastic

HOW to replace the irreplaceable A-series engine? Build a light, powerful and technically advanced power unit, spend years developing it to perfection; then introduce it in a highly impressive new medium sized car, quickly follow this up with a new small car which is a quantum leap ahead of the existing one. Rover employed this tactic to perfection during 1989 and 1990 – first with the Honda collaborative effort, the 200/400, then the revitalised Metro.

Austin Rover demonstrated that they were able to build a competitive and advanced engine, when they created the M16 out of the rather average O-series back in 1986. That development programme, headed by Roland Bertodo had been hamstrung by the fact that it used an existing engine as its base: with the K-series unit, the engine men started from scratch and used the opportunity to really stretch their creative impulses. Development had been started in 1984, had been placed under jeopardy by the Government of the day, who in an effort to reduce BL’s capital burden on the country’s finances.

As explained in The Whole Story, the 1983/84 BL corporate plan had required the additional borrowing of £1.5 billion in order to see through the development of the next generation of cars and their engines. £250 million of this would be swallowed up by the K-series engine development programme – and it made an appealing economy for the government to suggest that BL could in fact use a Honda engine, thereby reducing the proposed investment.

Maintaining independence from Honda

IT may have seemed like a good idea to the Government, but Ray Horrocks and Harold Musgrove certainly did not agree – both fearing that Austin Rover would have lost a great deal of their independence if they no longer produced their own mid-market engine. Musgrove was especially passionate bout this – and barracked the then trade and industry Norman Tebbitt into seeing the BL point of view: it worked – Tebbitt was persuaded and the government capitulated, allowing the continued funding of the K-series.

The company knew that in order to replace the A-Series engine, the engine would need to be both powerful and compact – and in order to achieve these goals, it would need to be highly advanced. Another consideration was that the changing tide within European legislation meant that emissions were being pushed further up the agenda and because of this, the design would need to be such that it would meet and succeed any potential new regulations. Needless to say, the company were right in this assertion and before long, lean burn engines would be all the rage – because of Austin Rover’s foresight, they were most definitely ahead of the game when the new engine appeared in 1989.

To meet these goals, the engine was constructed of alloy, and ingeniously, to ensure that the pressures within the engine were evenly distributed, a long bolt configuration was adopted. In other words, the engine was basically of a sandwich design and holding it all together were 16-inch long bolts that plunged from the cylinder head to the sump, top to bottom. Other advances were that the K-Series unit was designed from the outset to be used with a twin cam, 16-valve cylinder head; a quite exotic configuration back in 1983, but necessary in order to gain enough specific output in order to meet upcoming emissions regulations.

Advanced specification

INTIALLY launched in 1.4-litre 16v form, the engine range was soon extended to encompass 1.1 and 1.4-litre 8v versions, which were then followed by 1.6 and 1.8-litre 16v units. This ensured that Rover would not be dependent on Honda for their mid-sized engine range and paved the way for the hot versions of the Rover 200 and MGF. With Honda power, these cars would in most likelihood been just as impressive, but less British. This power unit also formed the basis of the company’s KV6 engine (of which over 100,000 had been built by 2001) – which was used to great effect initially in the Rover 800, then the Rover 75 and MG ZT.

Like the A-series before it and also the group’s V8 engine, the K-series engine soon became the darling of the British specialist manufacturers, becoming the motive force for Caterham and Lotus.

The KV6 version of this engine was first used in the Rover 825, but it should be noted that this was a very different beast to the similarly-named power unit that would find its way into the Rover 75 and MG ZT. An insider described the earlier engine as very much a practice run, produced in an almost hand-built way – unfortunately, that led to fragility in the 825, and many power units expired before they hit the 60,000 mile mark.

When discussing the KV6 with a Longbridge engineer, Julian Donald was told of the changes: “I asked him if the cylinder head design of the KV6 was basically just ¾ of a four-cylinder engine. He said that it was on the early ones used in the 800 but that the whole engine had been redesigned for the 75 to make it narrower to fit under the shorter bonnet.”

According to Brian Gunn, other differences between the early and late K-Series engines were put in place to improve reliability: “The differences between the early and late KV6 are that the block/liners are dimensionally more accurate, with more tolerance bands. The heads are the same, although Rover changed the top covers. The inlet manifold is totally different – it does not have the dual butterfly-type throttle body like the early one. The engine management has also been changed in favour of the Siemens 2000 system over the earlier MEMS 2J system. Things like the acoustic cover have been changed in appearance, as well as detail plumbing – and other things that go with an “improvement”.

Reliability issues

IN the 75 and MG ZT, the KV6 has proved to be a strong and sporting power unit – only over-average fuel consumption denyng it genuine greatness, but the earlier, almost handbuilt versions that found themselves under the bonnet of the 800 suffered from nightmare reliability issues – mainly with their head gaskets.

Many of the early ones were replaced under warranty at around 50,000 miles – with reliability only improving during the later years.

The K4 engine, on the other hand, seems to have become worse later in life. Early 1.1- and 1.4-litre cars seem strong and dependable, but the 1.6- and 1.8-litre cars, have developed a reputation for eating head gaskets, sometimes as early as 18,000 miles. Although the company claimed to have fixed the problem at several times during the production run – some blame the plastic dowels used in its construction, others flaws in the design of the cooling system – owners of 2000-2005 cars were still regularly suffering regular head gasket failure.

Such was the extent of the problem, it was highlighted on BBC TV’s Watchdog programme – and an MG Rover representative’s dismissive stance on the show shocked many existing customers, and scared off future ones.

Today, the K-Series engine has been heavily tarnished by its reputation for fragility, and although there are many more satisfied than dissatisfied customers out there, once an image is established, it’s fate is sealed.

The real shame of it is, the K-Series engine remains an impressive design to this day. And with it, Rover proved it could maintained the ability to produce its own power unit, and with that, maintain their independence and identity. It’s just a pity that this light and efficient engine wasn’t allowed to escape from the shadow of unreliability, because if it had, we’d still be marvelling its huge armoury of positive points to this day…

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Specifications & applications

Capacity	Bore	Stroke	Type	Max. Power	Max. Torque	Applications
1120cc			8v	60Ps @ 5700rpm	90Nm @ 3900rpm	1995-1998: Rover 100
			16v	75Ps @ 6000rpm	95Nm @ 5000rpm	1999-date: Rover 25
1396cc	75mm	79mm	8v SPi	75Ps @ 5500rpm	117Nm @ 4000rpm	1990-95: Rover Metro GTa 1995-98: Rover 100 1990-96: Rover 214i
			16v	84Ps @ 6000rpm	110Nm @ 4500rpm	1999-date: Rover 25
			16v MPi	95Ps @ 6000rpm		1989-95: Rover 214 / Rover 414 1990-95: Rover Metro GTi
			16v MPi	103Ps @ 6000rpm	123Nm @ 4500rpm	1995-99: Rover 214 / Rover 414 1999-date: Rover 25 / Rover 45 2001-date: MG ZR 105
1589cc			16v MPi	109Ps @ 6000rpm	138Nm @ 4500rpm	1995-99: Rover 216 / Rover 416 1999-date: Rover 25 / Rover 45
			16v	116Ps @ 6250rpm	145Nm @ 4700rpm	2002-date: MG TF 115 2003-date: MG ZS 115
1796cc	80.0mm	89.3mm	16v	117Ps @ 5500rpm	160Nm @ 2750rpm	1999-date: Rover 45 2001-date: MG ZR 120 / ZS 120
			16v	120Ps @ 5500rpm	160Nm @ 4000rpm	1999-date: Rover 75 2003-date: MG ZT 120
			16v	120Ps @ 5500rpm	165Nm @ 3000rpm	1995-2002: MG F 1.8i/1.8i Stepspeed 2002-date: MG TF 120 Stepspeed
			16v	136Ps @ 6750rpm	165Nm @ 5000rpm	2002-date: MG TF 135
			16v VVC	145Ps @ 6900rpm	173Nm @ 4500rpm	1995-99: Rover 200 Vi
			16v VVC	145Ps @ 7000rpm	174Nm @ 4500rpm	1995-1999: Rover 200 Coupe
			16v VVC	145Ps @ 6750rpm	174Nm @ 4000rpm	1998: Rover 200 BRM
			16v VVC	145Ps @ 7000rpm	174Nm @ 4500rpm	1995-2002: MG F 1.8i VVC
			16v Turbo	150Ps @ xx00rpm	215Nm @ 2100rpm	2002-date: Rover 75 1.8T
			16v VVC	160Ps @ 6900rpm	174Nm @ 4700rpm	2001-2002: MG F Trophy 160 SE 2002-date: MG TF 160
			16v VVC	160Ps @ 7000rpm	174Nm @ 4500rpm	2001-date: MG ZR 160
			16v Turbo	160Ps @ 5500rpm	215Nm @ 2100rpm	2002-date: MG ZT/ZT-T 160 1.8T
1997cc			24v KV6	150Ps @ 6500rpm	185Nm @ 4000rpm	1999-date: Rover 45 1999-date: Rover 75
2497cc			24v KV6	160Ps @ 6250rpm	230Nm @ 4000rpm	2001-date: MG ZT/ZT-T 160
			24v KV6	177Ps @ 6500rpm	240Nm @ 4000rpm	1996-1999: Rover 825 1999-date: Rover 75 2001-date: MG ZS 180
			24v KV6	190Ps @ 6500rpm	245Nm @ 4000rpm	2001-date: MG ZT/ZT-T 190

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Gallery

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August 26, 2011 · Keith Adams · 8 Comments
Posted in: Engines, Rover 200/400, Rover 400/45/MG ZS, Rover 75/MG ZT, Rover 800, Rover Metro/100, Rover R30, Rover RDX60

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